Walking aids in the form of staffs, canes and crutches are well known and have been available in many varieties to accommodate a person's need of support and ambulation. Also known are a variety of modifications and accessories to these aids to ergonomically improve the comfort, safety and use of such aids by the addition of handles or arm support designs or to provide grip or stability on a ground surface. Common designs to assist in the ambulatory support of a user leaning on the walking aid are to add platforms or multiple legs to the ground engaging end of the walking aid to give stability to the user.
These designs generally require that the walking aid and the relative shaft be maintained substantially perpendicular to the ground surface so that there is full contact of the platform or multiple legs. If there is only partial or angular contact of the ground engaging end of the walking aid with the ground surface stability is compromised. Clearly where a ground engaging end of a walking aid is not in complete contact with the ground surface the chances for the walking aid to slide, slip or move without warning is substantially increased possibly causing injury to the user. Although rubber end caps or tips are often provided at the ground engaging end of such walking aids and may by their malleable nature assist in establishing sufficient friction and stability, they not only wear inconsistently due to such use but are only a partial solution where the base of the walking aid is still not planarly aligned with the ground surface.
There are numerous impact cushioning devices known in the prior art for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,819. The known impact cushioning devices are however, just that, cushioning devices intended to merely vertically absorb the impact of the cane or other walking aid on the ground surface. The '819 patent reference includes a cane having an end, and a spring within a connecting sleeve disposed around the cane end where the spring is connected from between a lower end of the cane to an inner cavity of the rubber spring tip. The rubber tip is fitted snugly so as to only slide axially up and down around the collar of the connecting sleeve such that the spring is maintained axially aligned with the cane shaft in a compression and extension function only.
Other designs incorporate pointed tips or grippers to use the walking aid on uneven or slippery surfaces, but these usually require the user to remove or disengage in some manner the sharpened points when using the aid indoors as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,284. Other devices include a complex combination of various means, expensive to manufacture and produce and less that positive in their action to provide the intended benefits. Such devices formed of a multiplicity of parts are difficult to manufacture, assemble, adjust, maneuver or operate, and are basically difficult or impractical to convert from indoor to outdoor use without great effort and manipulation by the user.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do no disclose an accessory for a walking aid which provides cushioning and reduced impact as well as angulation where the foot or base of the accessory is maintained in a planar relationship with the supporting ground surface. In this; regard where the foot or base of the free end of the walking aid can be maintained in a parallel planar relationship with the ground supporting surface, no matter at what angle the walking aid is inclined relative to the supporting surface, the more traction and stability is imparted to the walking aid and hence the user.